Why the 2025 World Series is truly a global showcase
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The World Series draws in a widespread audience every year, but the 2025 matchup between the Dodgers and Blue Jays really emphasizes the “World” aspect of MLB’s championship showcase.
Besides the fact that this will be the first World Series since 1993 to feature teams from separate countries, the rosters for each side demonstrate how the reach of America’s pastime extends to so many regions around the planet.
This global impact includes baseball fans, who are watching their favorite players from these two teams, wearing their jerseys and following them on social media in extremely high and, in a few cases, record-setting numbers.
Here are a few examples of why the 2025 World Series really is for the world.
Rosters with a global feel
The two best players in this series hail from Japan (the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani) and Canada (the Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr.). But that’s just a sampling of the countries represented in this series.
For the World Series, the Dodgers and Blue Jays have a combined 13 internationally born players, spanning eight countries and territories. Here is a breakdown:
Dodgers
• Japan: 3 (Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto)
• Cuba: 1 (Andy Pages)
• Dominican Republic: 1 (Teoscar Hernández)
• Puerto Rico: 1 (Enrique Hernández)
• South Korea: 1 (Hyeseong Kim)
• Venezuela: 2 (Miguel Rojas, Edgardo Henriquez)
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Blue Jays
• Canada: 1 (Guerrero)
• Mexico: 1 (Alejandro Kirk)
• Dominican Republic: 1 (Seranthony Domínguez)
• Venezuela: 1 (Andrés Giménez)
The last time a greater number of countries and territories were represented in the World Series was 2018, when the Dodgers and Red Sox combined for nine. The last time there were more than 13 internationally born players on the World Series rosters was 2022, when the Phillies and Astros combined for 20 such players.
Record viewership
Drama-filled thrillers and jaw-dropping performances create unforgettable postseason memories. We’ve had both this October, and it has resulted in record viewership in the United States and internationally.
Through the League Championship Series, postseason viewership in the U.S. averaged 4.48 million viewers, making it the most-watched postseason since 2017, and representing a 13% increase over the 2024 playoffs.
The American League Championship Series between the Blue Jays and Mariners averaged a combined 9.39 million viewers, which is a 60% increase over 2024 (5.88 million) for the combined FOX/FS1/Sportsnet coverage of the National League Championship Series.
And this year’s NLCS between the Dodgers and Brewers was the most-watched NLCS ever in Japan.
ALCS Game 7 garners highest U.S./Canada viewership in eight years
Game 7 of the ALCS was the most-watched ALCS game since the 2017 matchup between the Astros and Yankees, averaging 15.03 million viewers combined in the U.S. and Canada. It drew 9.03 million viewers across FOX, FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports streaming services. It was the most-streamed LCS game in FOX Sports history.
ALCS Game 7, which the Blue Jays won to advance to their first World Series in 32 years, was also the most-watched Blue Jays game in Sportsnet history, averaging six million viewers (the previous record was Game 6 of the 2015 ALCS between Toronto and Kansas City -- 5.1 million).
In all, 11.8 million Canadians were reached by Sportsnet’s coverage of ALCS Game 7 -- that's about 28.4% of the population.
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Ohtani’s heroics, Dodgers’ run fuel record viewership in Japan
The game’s greatest talent found yet another way to amaze the world with his abilities, and the world was watching. Ohtani made history by striking out 10 batters over six scoreless innings on the mound while also smashing three home runs at the plate -- including one that went completely out of Dodger Stadium -- during Game 4 of the NLCS against Milwaukee.
That game, in which Ohtani turned in perhaps the greatest individual postseason performance of all time, drew 10.26 million viewers in Japan, making it the second-most-watched LCS game ever in Japan.
Overall, the Dodgers -- with Japanese stars Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki -- have drawn record viewership in the Land of the Rising Sun. L.A.’s four-game NLCS sweep of the Brewers was the most-watched NLCS ever in Japan (7.34 million average viewers), and represented a 26% increase over last year’s previous record (5.83 million).
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Postseason swag
The 2025 World Series includes five players on the list of the 20 best-selling jerseys of 2025:
- Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
- Aaron Judge, Yankees
- Freddie Freeman, Dodgers
- Mookie Betts, Dodgers
- Francisco Lindor, Mets
- Juan Soto, Mets
- Rafael Devers, Giants
- Bryce Harper, Phillies
- Jose Altuve, Astros
- Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres
- Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves
- Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
- Jarren Duran, Red Sox
- Elly De La Cruz, Reds
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
- Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs
- Pete Alonso, Mets
- Paul Skenes, Pirates
- Manny Machado, Padres
- Cal Raleigh, Mariners
The Dodgers have had the player with the top-selling jersey for six straight seasons:
2025: Ohtani
2024: Ohtani
2023: Ohtani
2022: Betts
2021: Betts
2020: Betts
The Blue Jays' Guerrero has been among the top 15 on the list in each of the last three years (12th in 2024, and 15th in 2023).
Connecting on social media
There is no topping last year’s World Series between the Yankees and Dodgers in terms of social media reach. Those clubs have either the biggest or second-biggest following of any verified MLB team account on Instagram and X.
But this year’s World Series comes pretty close. While the Dodgers are first on Instagram (5.4 million followers) and second on X (3 million), the Blue Jays are inside the top five on both sites (2 million followers on Instagram, tied for fourth; 2.4 million on X, fourth).
There are also six players -- hailing from three countries -- with at least one million followers on Instagram. Granted, the gap between Ohtani and the field is vast:
• Shohei Ohtani: 9.8 million Instagram followers
• Mookie Betts: 1.7 million
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto: 1.5 million
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 1.4 million
• Freddie Freeman: 1.3 million
• Roki Sasaki: 1.1 million